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Should I Disclose a Disability?

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sharon_k

Junior Member
How much protection does disclosing a disability to one's employer? I'm in a temporary position and was recently informed that overtime is expected but not mandatory. The overtime is going to interfere with my back rehabilitation from a recent auto accident. I don't want my inability to do overtime to affect my position. I don't believe i'm eligible for FMLA as I haven?t been in the position for one year. I'm thinking it would be best to disclose a disability. Please advise.
 


commentator

Senior Member
You are a temp. You do not now work for the company. If you breathe one word to the company (or probably to the temp service) about your having had any kind of back surgery, you will simply finish your temp assignment and you will not be put to work for the company permanently.
It would be a beautiful world if you were appreciated for what you could do without anyone taking into consideration that you very well might turn out to be some sort of extra expense on their insurance or might have on going problems from your back injury. But it doesn't happen. Make sure your social media postings don't include anything relevant to your back issues, either, as they usually check anything they can before hiring full time from the temp pool.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Commentator is assuming you are a temp from an agency. She may be right, but where I work we have agency temps and then we have employees that have been hired onto the university payroll in a temporary, non-benefits-eligible, position.

Which are you? Because it would affect my answer.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
I'm thinking it would be best to disclose a disability.
Never. At least not unless you are entitled to an accommodation by law.

Otherwise "I am unable to work overtime because I have personal commitments" should be all your employer needs to know.
 

sharon_k

Junior Member
Thanks for the feedback. I am a temp for a large national agency. If i disclosed to the agency, can the agency share that info with the company? Seems like there would be some privacy issues there.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
No, if you share with the agency, they cannot tell the client WHY you cannot work overtime but they can tell the client THAT you cannot work overtime. However, it is still true that you could end up losing this job.
 
As you are undergoing rehabilitation, which is hopefully working, perhaps it's not a disability but rather an injury.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
It still falls under disability laws if she needs any kind of accommodation, such as not working OT
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Here's the thing, Sharon; in order to go against an employer's wishes and have your job protected, the employer has to know that your reason is a protected one. You have the right to keep your medical condition private, but the trade off is that you risk losing your job if the employer is annoyed by your refusing the overtime. The employer doesn't have to take your word that your reason is protected. I'm not saying that you will lose your job if you refuse the overtime and don't disclose the disability, but you can. If you want the protection that goes along with having a disability, you have to disclose it.

It's up to you.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Rehabbing from an injury in a car wreck doesn't sound to me like an on going, probably will need to be protected disability. It sounds like something personal that will be hopefully be short term and you control the hours when you're getting the rehab. I would really not risk it if I wanted to be hired full time.

The way they're wording this, "Overtime is EXPECTED but not mandatory" means, I suspect, that you're going to land in one of those places where they sort the dedicated from the not-so-much by your willingness to work "expected" overtime. And there will always be some really dedicated people who will be willing to do what is "expected." If you immediately create issues, point out that you may require accommodations, cannot do overtime, I really suspect there will be some valid reason found that you are not put into a permanent position.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Clarification - commentator is right that we haven't yet established whether your rehab is protected or not. It might be, it might not be. But even if it is, you don't have the option of keeping the disability to yourself and still maintaining the protection it affords.
 

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